The Property

...Intro

Today the Volmiano estate, listed in the register of Italian Historical Enterprises, owned by Vittoria Gondi Citernesi and her sons Gerardo and Lapo Gondi, is managed by Lapo, who has brought forward the cherished project of his grandfather, Alfredo Citernesi, who devoted his life to growing olive trees and producing extra-virgin olive oil, his pride and joy.

Leggi Ancora

The Marinella Valley at Legri, and the Fattoria di Volmiano in particular, have been famous since the Middle Ages for olive oil, although the estate also produced wine, cattle of the Calvana breed, sheep and grain, obviously under the métayer system. When the Fattoria di Volmiano was bought in the late 19th century by the Salvadori family, Livia and her husband Costantino Citernesi continued to operate under this traditional form of management. Their son Alfredo Citernesi, immediately after World War II, following a trop to England, began to raise free-range poultry, as one of the first in Italy to adopt this form of intensive breeding. But since the olive trees were his chief interest, he gave up stock-breeding to devote himself to olive-growing. After the great freeze of 1985, he gave a new impetus to the estate by partially modernizing the cultivation systems. Already at the time, Alfredo Citernesi was attempting to upgrade the characteristics of this land, while conserving the surrounding environment, the beautiful agricultural landscape that enhances the special beauty of these highly panoramic places. The estate now extends over approximately 550 hectares, 70 of them planted to specialized olive groves with 20.000 olive trees, surrounded by timber wood and high-trunk trees, ranging from altitudes of 250 meters to the 1000 meters of Monte Morello. And so, from long-ago 1427, the Fattoria di Volmiano has gradually evolved, diversifying its cultivations. Joined by other properties, it has become very large, known first for its Calvana cattle, then for its poultry raising, but always remaining famous for its extra-virgin olive oil, cold-pressed with stone mill-wheels.
Expressly for its uncontaminated nature and for the agricultural philosophy of its owners, the estate has now been converted to organic farming by Lapo Gondi, who has continued to develop the great project of his grandfather, Alfredo Citernesi, who devoted his life to producing extra-virgin olive oil, his pride and joy.
Since 2011 the Fattoria di Volmiano has been listed in the register of Italian Historic Enterprises compiled by Unioncamere (Union of the Italian Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Crafts) and, considering that it has existed since 1427, in the prestigious list of estates that have existed for over 100 years.
In addition to his strictly agricultural activity, Lapo Gondi is enrolled, continuing the family’s involvement in sectorial organizations in favor of agriculture, in the Associazione Giovanile della Confagricoltura, as Vice President for the Province of Florence.